Conventional digital cameras capture an image using a charge-coupled device (CCD) array. Such cameras also typically use a liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen to provide information to the user, to act as a viewfinder, and to display the captured images. LCD screens typically have an aspect ratio of 4:3, as do most video components. Although many CCD arrays also have a 4:3 aspect ratio, CCD arrays that are compatible with photographic standards have a 3:2 aspect ratio. Currently, conventional digital cameras utilize CCD arrays having a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Conventional digital cameras are also capable of taking images that could be considered either portrait or landscape images. Portrait images are those images having a height greater than the width. Landscape images typically have a width greater than length. A user typically captures a landscape image by keeping the digital camera in a standard upright orientation. A portrait image is captured by rotating the camera either right or left prior to capturing the image.
Although conventional digital cameras are capable of capturing both landscape and portrait images, when the image is displayed on the LCD screen the orientation of the image is unchanged. Consequently, in order to view a portrait image in the proper orientation, a user must rotate the digital camera to the right or the left. If the digital camera rotates the image automatically, the aspect ratio of a rotated portrait image does not match the aspect ratio of the landscape oriented LCD screen. In addition, a manufacturer of a digital camera may not use a CCD array having a 3:2 aspect ratio and produce an image having an aspect ratio that is the same as the aspect ratio of the LCD screen. An image produced by such a CCD array would either be too wide for the LCD screen, assuming the image from the CCD array is scaled up so that the height of the image equals that of the LCD screen, or not tall enough to fill the LCD screen, assuming the image from the CCD array is scaled up so that the width of the image equals that of the LCD screen.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method and system for correcting the aspect ratio of an image for display, for example on an LCD screen. The present invention addresses such a need.